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The Whitecross Street Party was certinaly the place to be this weekend! A fun, lively couple of days when Whitecross Street, a little road just north of the Barbican Centre, shuts down, turns around and gets funky.

Street artists, entertainers, stall owners and street food vendors all play their part in the eclectic mix of the event with live music provided by a big stage. Kids taking part in street dance classes, hula hoop workshops and environmental workshops all add to the family atmosphere of the event.

Masterminded by Terry Baden, himself a street artist, the title ‘Rise of the Non-Conformists’ is a tribute to the characters from yesteryear who would have lived in the area. From the website Baden explains “Artists and mavericks used to hang out in this area of marshland- in gambling dens, whorehouses and drinking hovels away from the law. This is what spawned the idea for what is now the Whitecross Street Party and ‘Rise of the Non Conformists’. I would imagine these characters rising up from the earth to dazzle us with their creative offerings.”

It’s a great event with some great people and funnily enough I took some pictures.

The Rise of the Non-Conformists posterJimmy C in action painting on Whitecross StreetThe Krah begins his workAirborne Mark stops to talk to a fellow artistAndrea Tyrimos painted this ‘Hole in the Wall’ just round the corner from the Curious Duke GalleryAndrea Tyrimos in action, she looks lonely here but in reality the public were loving her art with lots of people stopping to talkAndrea also has some pieces showing in the Curious Duke GalleryLouis Masai painted these beautiful parakeetsSliks contributed this to one of the shop shutters on Whitecross StreetHannah Adamaszek also had a painting on the streetHannah is also exhibiting at the Curious Duke Gallery on Whitecross Street, it’s well worth a lookAs part of the show on the day Hannah collaborated with Kristen Gaudio Endsley to produce this beautiful pieceIn the Curious Duke Gallery itself Kef was doing some live drawingKef also had some artwork showing on the streetLots going on with this giant inflatable tentactle dominating the skylineArt and fashion combined with more than a few photo shoots also happeningDale Grimshaw added this incredible piece to the showAnd of course Teddy Baden himself drew this.

I first visited on the Saturday morning and went back on Sunday evening. By then a lot of the ‘street art in action’ had been completed with some great works on show with the artists able to interact with an appreciative public.

The Krah has a very unique styleZadok was going right until the end.Idiom were there at the end tooMiss Wah drew this fun loving pieceAirborne Mark has a unique style and a fun series of charactersMy Dog Sighs painted this superb CatwomanJimmy C’s final portrait incredible as always

For more information about the Whitecross Street party try the official website here.

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for more information about the art exhibited at the Curious Duke Gallery try here.